Ancient Fire is the name of my brand of homemade wines, meads, ciders & beers. Under that name I also write articles on my projects, wines from around the world, food & pairing, the wine business, wineries, travel and all things I enjoy in this life. -- Jason

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Thank You

( Thank you from Margot and I for all the support. We didn't do this, WE all did! )

I owe a lot of people thanks after my Relay For Life this
weekend. And those of you who are receiving them, you know who you are, you are
just going to have to sit back and take what is coming to you. I am nowhere
near as awesome as the honors I have recently accepted might suggest, and I am
certainly not even notable without acknowledging all the people who have helped
me achieve them. This was always a team effort anyway.

The most urgent thanks go to my team members. Margot, Donna, Missi, Melissa, Jen, Derek, Shirley, Scott, Linda and Kathy, you guys rock. Past team members Bob, Tim, Abby, Alice, Celeste, Amy, Betsy, Ashley, Emillie, Geoff, Kevin, Caryn, Sam, Cyndi and Terri, this is for you as well. Family members of all of my teammates, thank you so much for allowing your loved ones to spend this time; it is worth more than you know. We all did this and we should be so proud of what our efforts have amounted to.

( Team Survivors Rule! with the planning committee post-closing. )

Team Survivors Rule! finished with its best year ever in
terms of fundraising AND with an overall sense of joy with what we had done and
the apparent example we have set.

The big milestone looming in 2012 was when we would reach the $100,000 mark. We started this mission in 2003 and with less than ten years behind us, we’ve done it. We knew we did it on Friday afternoon. There were happy dances and high fives all around. We are going to get a banner that says “The Next $100,000 Will Be Easier” to symbolize the sweat that went into putting that mark on the world.

Taking the field (of battle if you will) we then had eyes on the $13,000 yearly goal we had set back in February. Could we hit that? Yes, yes we could. With final campaigning to people at Relay and beyond we eclipsed that mark in the early AM hours Saturday. Wow, the team-work and drive right to end was overwhelming!

I finished with a personal best, and my first year above
$3000. To all my individual donors past and present, thank you so much for
placing you hard earned dollars with me and the American Cancer Society. Those
dollars are a direct pipeline to programs, services and research that is an
“all-in” bet on hope. You are my hero and we are all heroes to so many people
who will be helped by our efforts.

( Rituals like team sock and shoe changes at 1AM really bring people together! )

The weather at Relay was reasonable, we did have a T-Storm
around 9pm, and the team put many miles in on the way to our 10am finish.
Several of us eclipsed marathon distance (26.2) miles again, personally having
done this (and then some) eight years running. Five of us banded together to run a final lap
as a more potent example that we are here and fighting. Man was I tired! A few
small blisters and a gentle reminder to drop a few pounds were the only lasting
scars.

( A few crazy team members before running a final lap! )

( Which Jen brought home with lots of track in front the rest of us! )

At the closing we clocked in at second place in both the
team and the individual fundraising competitions. We’ve had firsts in both in
the past, but this year there was another team that was hungry for the top
spots and did the work needed to make it happen. Team Golden Brook and captain
BJ Martin (in the pic on the right), you guys showed us all how it’s done!

At this point I was very much looking forward to heading
home, showering and hitting the rack for a bit. I took a two our nap during
Relay after realizing I was stumbling a bit on the track, but even so I was
confident that nothing was going to feel as good as bed right about then. Or so
I thought.

Special awards are also announced during the closing. I
don’t generally consider my team in the running for these, the time commitment
to be at all the meetings and network with so many fellow participants is
challenging on my and my teammates’ schedules. Well maybe that’s not the whole
story. Team Survivors Rule! was honored with the BJ Allgaier Spirit Award for
2012. This award is given to a team that exemplifies the spirit of Relay by
setting a positive example, helping others and being an active part of the
Relay community.

I was asked to speak on behalf of the team and I could barely
get the words out. I spoke about how coming to the Derry/Londonderry Relay was
an accident, we changed locations due to a family wedding in year two, and that
we never left because the community we found was so supportive of doing
incredible things. I also said that we are an example of what is possible and that
everyone should feel like they could be us, and better yet we would help! I
thanked everyone assembled for what they had helped us do.

The award is profound for me. BJ Allgaier was a mentor to me
early in my Relay volunteer experience. She helped me, challenged me and asked
me what I was prepared to do for my world. Cancer took her from us before she
had finished her work. I am so much better off for having known her. To win an
award named for her and her spirit is a unique joy.

So thank you to everyone who has donated, walked, hosted
events, helped setup and/or cheered us on since 2003. We set out to make a
difference and by all accounts we have succeeded in defining a role for ourselves
in that. No one of us on the team does even our own little part alone. We all
have support. Thank you all so much.